Despite widespread opposition from law enforcement, Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed a bill that will allow thousands of felons in county jails to vote in California elections as part of an effort to speed their transition back into society.

Federal regulators said Wells Fargo employees opened accounts in customers’ names without their consent.

James Rufus Koren and Jim Puzzanghera September 27, 2016

Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive John Stumpf will forfeit compensation worth about $45 million as the bank tries to appease angry lawmakers and regain the trust of customers amid the still-unfolding scandal over fake accounts.

California voters on Nov. 8 will consider a ballot initiative that would tax cigarettes by an additional $2 per pack. They also will weigh a separate income tax increase on some of the state’s highest earners.

California’s likely voters solidly support a fall initiative to extend higher income taxes on top earners, while a separate proposal to boost state taxes on tobacco is clinging to a majority vote, according to a new survey released Monday.

Wells Fargo is already facing four potential class-action suits and could soon face more from customers, former employees and investors over the bank’s fake-accounts scandal. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

James Rufus Koren September 26, 2016

As beleaguered banking giant Wells Fargo & Co. deals with inquiries from federal prosecutors and scrutiny from lawmakers, it’s facing a growing number of civil lawsuits brought by customers and former employees.

Stand-ins for Donald J. Trump, Hillary Clinton and Lester Holt on Sunday at the site of Monday’s presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. (Credit: Sam Hodgson for The New York Times)

Monday, September 26, 2016 – 09:00 a.m.

The first of three presidential debates between Democrat Nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton Republican Nominee Donald J. Trump will take place at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York on Monday night.

One of the most pervasive myths in American politics is that a “Big Blue Wall” will protect Democratic presidential nominees, perhaps even those who lose the popular vote. In truth, this electoral Blue Wall is more like a collection of disconnected forts—some imposing, some not—and the loss of any one of them would likely doom the Democratic nominee.

Charles “Chase’ Merritt (File photo)

By Joe Nelson, The Sun Posted: 09/23/16 – 4:08 PM PDT |

The attorney for McStay family murder suspect Charles “Chase” Merritt told a San Bernardino Superior Court judge Friday he cannot begin trial until he finishes defending another client in a public corruption case, scheduled to begin Oct. 17 and last seven months.

The state’s political ethics commission is launching an investigation into the California Democratic Party after an advocacy group alleged the party acted as a middleman to funnel donations from oil and energy companies to Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2014 re-election campaign.

The Hotel Bristol Warsaw, where state regulators met with a Southern California Edison executive to discuss San Onofre. (Publicity image)

Jeff McDonald September 22, 2016

State utility regulators, already under criminal investigation for their ties to monopolies they oversee, should ban gifts and travel from energy companies and trade groups to avoid the appearance of improper relationships, a state audit released Thursday said.

SACRAMENTO >> In addition to their six-figure salaries and benefits, California’s 120 lawmakers are compensated for their cost of living and meals when they leave home and travel to Sacramento to write and pass bills.

With more than 600 bills to sign or veto before a Sept. 30 deadline, Gov. Jerry Brown has yet to weigh in on significant public safety legislation, including bills affecting prostitution, rape and the ability of felons to vote.

We continue our FOX 11 investigation into the San Bernardino County Department of Children and Family Services.

(SAN BERNARDINO, CA) – A family of five young siblings is suing the San Bernardino County Department of Children and Family Services and a foster care agency contracted by the CFS, alleging the two youngest members of the family were sexually abused in a foster care home in Victorville over three years.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department is not commenting on a photo shown in court as part of an ongoing civil trial that a plaintiff says shows a deputy dressed in a Grinch costume intentionally and illegally driving a patrol car through a stoplight in Victorville to prompt a red-light camera to snap a souvenir picture.

The retiring forecaster for California’s largest public employee pension fund offered some final advice on Tuesday: State and local governments should be required to pay more into the system as soon as next year.

SAN BERNARDINO >> A San Bernardino County sheriff’s lieutenant testified during a civil whistleblower-retaliation trial Monday he tried to quash a “petty citations war” between two High Desert sheriff’s stations.

SAN BERNARDINO >> City Manager Mark Scott informed the City Council Friday that he would not allow any of the usual election forums or local election broadcasts unless a majority of the council members voted to reverse his decision.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California Gov. Jerry Brown has put promised small dinners with political donors on hold until he finishes signing bills for the year, an aide said Friday, amid criticism of what some called paid access during a crucial decision-making time for the governor.

SAN BERNARDINO >> The proposed new city charter was cast as the way to end decades of destructive political infighting or a surrendering of self-government Thursday in a debate between the campaigns for and against changing the city’s governing document.

A San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy testified Wednesday that he was removed from a prestigious motorcycle traffic-enforcement assignment after he criticized what he characterized as a supervisor’s illegal traffic-ticket quota and continued to cite Victorville elected officials, city officials and off-duty deputies over that same supervisor’s objections.

ONTARIO >> Fitch Ratings said Monday it has revised its outlook for Ontario International Airport bonds from negative to stable, based on better passenger traffic and a healthy financial profile for the Inland facility.

Aggressive sales tactics by Wells Fargo & Co. employees led to a $185-million settlement package with federal and state regulators last week. Above, a branch in Miami. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

Jim Puzzanghera September 12, 2016

The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing next week on the aggressive sales tactics by Wells Fargo & Co. employees that led to a $185-million settlement package with federal and state regulators.

Commission president had last-minute concern about criminal penalty provisions of law

When key bills aimed at reforming the California Public Utilities Commission died last month, much of the blame was placed publicly at the feet of a Republican floor leader — someone not typically seen as a make-or-break figure in a Democrat-dominated legislature.

Republican Paul Chabot, left, and Democrat Pete Aguilar were all smiles when they greeted each other before a debate at the University of Redlands in October 2014. But their rematch this year has been marked by personal attacks and accusations. (Kurt Miller/File Photo)

“To just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the ‘basket of deplorables,'” Hillary Clinton said at a New York fundraiser on Sept. 9. “They’re racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it. And unfortunately, there are people like that, and he has lifted them up.”

By Abby Phillip September 9, 2016 at 10:38 PM

Hillary Clinton said Friday that “half” of Donald Trump’s supporters could be grouped in “the basket of deplorables” at a fundraising event in New York City.

Congresswoman and U.S. Senate candidate Loretta Sanchez called Thursday for a federal takeover of the criminal investigation into the California Public Utilities Commission from her political rival, Attorney General Kamala Harris.

COLTON >> Former employees at the Ashley Furniture plant in Colton say they want justice and an apology over a recent mass layoff they see as a betrayal and retaliation for their failed attempt at unionization last year.

Calling it “outrageous” and “a major breach of trust,” local and federal regulators hammered Wells Fargo & Co. for a pervasive culture of aggressive sales goals that pushed thousands of workers to open as many as 2 million accounts that bank customers never wanted.

Miller resigned from his job with state Board of Equalization member Diane Harkey last month.

The Riverside County Community College District trustee, who sent two tweets featuring a noose-holding hangman and the words “I’m Ready for Hillary,” has agreed to become campaign manager for Riverside County supervisor candidate Shellie Milne, who confirmed his hiring Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 7.

House prices continued rising in July, increasing from year-ago levels for a 51st straight month in Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire and the 50th straight month in Orange County, the CoreLogic Home Price Index showed Tuesday.

Seventeen voter initiatives are on the state ballot in November, a glut of citizen-lawmaking that could, among other things, end the death penalty, legalize recreational marijuana, impose a tax surcharge on the wealthy and place limits on prescription drug costs.

SAN BERNARDINO >> Labor Day begins the big campaigns for and against the ballot measure to replace the city’s charter — essentially a constitution that, if changed, could either finally free city officials to fix the city and increase voter participation or could throw away the city’s heritage and citizen protections, depending on who’s arguing.

Several Southern California members of Congress urged the U.S. secretary of commerce to intervene in the worldwide supply chain havoc caused by the collapse of South Korean Hanjin Shipping Co., which has left local workers’ jobs in limbo and threatens to spoil the holiday season for retailers.

Wednesday night’s legislative stalemate on giving the State Bar permission to continue collecting dues from the state’s lawyers and, more controversially, overhauling its organization and operations, is already creating fallout.

Jetliners backed up at LAX. The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that it is ready to replace its aging air traffic control system in the region with new satellite-based procedures. (Courtesy of Mike Foote / Los Angeles Times)

Dan Weikel September 2, 2016

As soon as November, Southern Californians may see jets and planes coming and going in parts of the sky where aircraft seldom flew, after the Federal Aviation Administration’s announcement Friday that it is ready to replace its aging air traffic control system in the region with new satellite-based procedures.

A major effort to overhaul the state’s energy regulator surprisingly collapsed after late legislative maneuverings led to the unraveling of the broad coalition that had pushed for changes at the scandal-ridden agency.

Gov. Jerry Brown has hundreds of bills to sign or veto before Sept. 30. Here’s what to keep an eye on.

While Gov. Jerry Brown prepares to act on hundreds of bills sent to him by the Legislature in its end-of-session rush, the California Democratic Party has offered prospective donors to Brown’s political causes access to a series of small dinners with him.

Pollsters are debating whether Donald Trump’s “silent majority” of voters exists, and are scrambling to make sure that their surveys reflect the opinions of voters who might not ordinarily be included in opinion polls.